V S G A GOLFERS OF THE YEAR
VSGA JUNIOR GIRLS’ GOLFER OF THE YEAR
Caroline Curtis
HOME CLUB: Hermitage Country Club
QUICK TIP Curtis is confident in her technical preparation, so she focuses a lot of her on-course time on staying focused and in the moment. A key piece of advice: slow down.
“ I feel a lot of times— and I know this goes for other people, but especially for me— that when things start to go wrong, I start to speed up everything, the decisions that I make, my swing and the shots that I hit,” Curtis said.“ Just try to take it slow on the course and think through everything and make sure you’ re taking it one shot at a time.”
CHAMPIONSHIP MOMENT Curtis, 15, prefaced her strong run to the VSGA Women’ s Amateur semifinals with a win against a veteran field at the Richmond Women’ s Golf Association Amateur in June. In 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying, Curtis posted consecutive 69s to earn medalist honors by a shot over Amanda Hollandsworth.
“ I was hitting the shots that I wanted to hit and making putts when I needed to make them,” Curtis said.“ I absolutely loved that course( James River CC). The course was in great shape and everything just set up for me really well. I just really had control of my game, basically that whole week.”
Curtis made her second straight trip to the tournament semifinals before falling to two-time champion Abby Portyrata. Though Curtis has yet to win an Amateur, she has no reason to hang her head, considering who she has lost to the last three years— Portyrata, USGA champion Lauren Greenlief and past Amateur champion Lyberty Anderson.
OFF THE COURSE Curtis still has two-plus years at Collegiate, but knowing where she will play after high school has helped her focus on and enjoy the rest of her junior golf experience. Why Georgia?
“ When I first started out in the recruiting process, two things I wanted was a big school and I hate the cold weather, so I wanted something in the South,” Curtis said.“ It fit perfectly. I talked to a lot of schools, but I seemed to mesh with Georgia.
2016 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
» Medalist at the 91st VSGA Women’ s Amateur Championship. Curtis advanced to the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Abby Portyrata.
» Won the Richmond Women’ s Golf Association Amateur Championship, topping Boodie McGurn in the title match.
» Ranked 116th nationally in the AJGA Polo Junior Golf Rankings.
» Posted five top-15 finishes— including three top 10s— in AJGA events in 2016. Finished third at the AJGA Junior All-Star at Forsgate; took fourth at the AJGA Junior All- Star at Bentwater; and tied for eighth at the Scott Robertson Memorial.
» Committed to play golf at the University of Georgia following her graduation from Collegiate School.
I love their facilities. I love their coaches and the atmosphere down there. There’ s obviously a drive to win SEC and national championships. That’ s definitely one of my favorite things about it.”
34 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ANUARY / F EBRUARY 2017 vsga. org